Mountain Wildflower Afghan Square

It’s almost time for the singing to start with my birthday just around the corner. I have been considering the idea that I will continue to celebrate my birthday every year but I won’t add any more years. Theoretically it sounds good. So starting this year I am 55 forever. It is a nice round number.

My tradition the past 4 years has been to publish a complimentary crochet pattern for an Afghan Square here on the blog as a birthday gift from me to my readers. This year’s square is my “Mountain Wildflower Afghan Square”. It is Block #20 in the 2018 Moogly Afghan CAL as well.

This year I had a lot of fun playing with 2D texture. I used ch, slip st, sc, hdc, dc and cluster stitches. I am having you turn for some rounds, each round instructions are marked either RS or WS to help you stay on track.

There are times when you will be working toward a chain space that have a hdc before them. I wanted to talk a bit about the hdc before you get started crocheting and share the following photos as a guide.

The top of the hdc can look a lot like it is part of a chain space. This is good to keep in mind when working Round 7 of this square. In the photo above, the 2 pink arrows are showing the 2 chains of the ch-2 corner sp, the yellow arrow is the top of the last hdc before the chain space, the aqua arrow is the skipped st.

Sometimes it helps to get your finger behind the hdc to guide your hook.

This is the completed single crochet before the ch-2 space.

I used 4 colors in this square with 9 color changes. I’ve also listed the amounts of each color of yarn needed for 1 square, so you can have fun using up some of your scrap yarn stash. You could even use 9 different colors if you want. I have listed the amount of yarn needed for the 4 colors and there are break-outs in curly brackets for the amounts in each of the 9 color changes.

I chose the lighter green color for the third and fourth rounds to give the feel of leaves around the center flower.

Mountain Wildflower Afghan Square

Designed by Andee Graves

Skill level:       Intermediate

Finished Size:   12” (30 cm) square

Materials:

Yarn

Worsted weight yarn in 4 colors

Sample uses Red Heart “With Love” 100% Acrylic (7 oz/198 g, 370 yds/338 m),

Color A: #1201 Daffodil (sample used approximately 18 yards/9 grams) for Rnd 1 {2 yds/1g} & Rnd 10-11 {16 yds/8g}

Color B: #1538 Lilac (sample used approximately 16 yards/8 grams) for Rnd 2 {4 yds/2g} & Rnd 12 {12 yds/6g}

Color C: #1562 Jadeite (sample used approximately 42 yards/21 grams) for Rnd 3-4{8 yds/4g} , Rnd 8-9 {17 yds/9g} & Rnd 13 {16 yds/8g}

Color D: #1621 Evergreen (sample used approximately 36 yards/18 grams) for Rnd 5-7 {17 yds/9g} & Rnd 14 {17 yds/9g}

Hook

J / 6mm

Notions

Yarn/tapestry needle

Stitch markers

Gauge

First 4 rounds of pattern = 4” across square

Abbreviations/Special Stitches

Right Side (RS): The side of fabric that will be considered the visible side of the fabric.

Wrong Side (WS): The side of fabric that will be considered the hidden side of the fabric.

Adjustable Slip Knot Start: Make your slip knot so the beginning tail tightens the loop on your hook. If you need further help with this technique I have a video, and a blog post that demonstrate it with more detail.

3 double crochet cluster st (Cl): (YO, insert hook in indicated st or sp, YO pull up a loop, YO pull thru 2 loops on hook) 3 times, YO pull thru remaining 4 loops on hook.

Beginning 3 dc cluster st (Beg Cl): Ch 2, (YO, insert hook in indicated st or sp, YO pull up a loop, YO pull thru 2 loops on hook) 2 times, YO pull thru remaining 4 loops on hook.

Loose slip stitch (loose slip st): Insert hook in indicated place, YO, pull up a loop thru place and loop on hook keeping loose like making a chain st.

Joining slip st (slip st): Insert hook in indicated place, YO, pull up a loop thru place and loop on hook, continue to pull up on working loop until original loop is tight.

V-stitch (V-st): (dc, ch 1, dc) in indicated place.

Standing Double Crochet (Standing dc): make slip knot in yarn and place loop snugly on shaft of hook, yo and insert hook into indicated st, yo, pull up a loop, (yo, pull thru 2 loops on hook) twice. If substituting for a chain start of a round, do not work the first 3 chains of the round instructions.

Place Marker (PM)

Pattern Notes:

Stitch counts at the end of each round and row are shown in italicized brackets at end of each round or row.

When instructions specify “sl st loosely”, this means work those slip stitches similar to a chain stitch and do not pull the working loop to tighten them as in a joining slip stitch. You will be working into those loose slip stitches.

Instructions

Rnd 1 (RS): Begin with flower center color (Color A). Starting with adjustable slip knot, ch 4, 11 dc in 4th ch from hook, sl st to top of beginning ch-4 of Rnd. Fasten off. [12 dc]

Rnd 2 (RS): Change to flower petal color (Color B): With RS facing, attach new color in any dc from Rnd 1, Beg Cl in same st as join, (ch 2, Cl in next st) 11 times, ch 2, sl st to top of Beg Cl. Fasten off. [12 ch-2 sp, 12 Cl]

Rnd 3 (RS): Change to Color C. With RS facing, attach new color in any ch-2 sp, ch 1, 3 sc in same ch-2 sp, (3 sc in next ch-2 sp) 11 times, sl st to first sc of Rnd. [36 sc]

Rnd 4 (RS): Round to Square – Continue working with RS facing, ch 1, sc next st, [*ch 2, skip next 2 sts, (hdc, dc) next st, (dc, ch 2, dc) next st, PM in ch-2 sp just made, (dc, hdc) next st, ch 2, skip next 2 sts,* sc next 2 sts] 3 times; Repeat from * to * once, sc next st, sl st to first sc of Rnd. Fasten off. [8 sc, 8 hdc, 16 dc, 12 ch-2 spcs]

Rnd 5 (WS): Change to Color D. With WS facing attach new color into next ch-2 sp to left of a marked corner ch-2 sp, ch 1, 2 sc in same ch-2 sp, [*sc in next 3 sts, (sc, ch 2, sc) in marked corner ch-2 sp, move up st marker to ch-2 sp just made, sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next ch-2 sp, sc in next 2 sts,* 2 sc in next ch-2 sp,] 3 times, Repeat from * to * once, slip st to first sc of Rnd. [56 sc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 6 (RS): Turn, ch 2, skip st where joined, *hdc in each st until reach marked corner ch-2 sp, (hdc, ch 2, hdc) in ch-2 sp, move up st marker to ch-2 sp just made,* Repeat from * to * 3 times, hdc in each st until reach start of Rnd, slip st to top of beginning ch-2. [64 hdc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 7 (WS): Ch 1, turn, sc in first hdc, *sk 1 st, (hdc, dc) in next st, ch 1, (dc, hdc) in next st, skip next st, sc next st**, (hdc, dc, ch 2, dc, hdc) in marked corner ch-2 sp, move st marker up to ch-2 sp just made, sc in next hdc,* [Repeat * to ** 2 times, Repeat * to * once] 2 times, Repeat * to ** once, skip next st, (hdc, dc) in next st, ch 1, (dc, hdc) in next st, skip next st, slip st to first sc of Rnd. Fasten off. [16 sc, 32 hdc, 32 dc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 8 (RS): Change to Color C. With RS facing, attach new color to a center ch-1 sp with slip st, *skip 2 sts, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next sc, skip 2 sts, slip st loosely in next ch-1 sp,* [^skip 2 sts, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next sc, skip 2 sts, (sc, ch 2, sc) in marked corner ch-2 sp, move st marker to ch-2 sp just made^, Repeat from * to * 3 times] 3 times, Repeat from ^ to ^ once, Repeat from * to * 2 times. [8 sc, 64 dc, 20 ch-2 sp 12 loose slip st]

Rnd 9 (WS): Turn, ch 1, *sc into ch-1 sp on Rnd 7 enclosing slip st from Rnd 8, ch 2, skip 2 sts, (sc, ch 1, sc) in next ch-2 sp, ch 2, skip 2 sts*, Repeat from * to * once, [sc in next sc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in marked corner ch-2 sp, sc in next sc, ch 2, skip 2 sts, (sc, ch 1, sc) in next ch-2 sp, ch 2, skip 2 sts, Repeat from * to * 3 times] 3 times, Repeat from * to * once, slip st to first sc of Rnd. Fasten off. [60 sc, 16 ch-1 sp, 36 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 10 (RS): Change to Color A. With RS facing attach yarn with slip st to first ch-1 sp in from right hand corner, ch 1, sc in same ch-1 sp, [*ch 1, skip next sc and ch-2 sp, V-st in next sc, ch 1,** skip next ch-2 sp and sc, sc in next ch-1 sp*, Repeat from * to * 2 times, Repeat from * to ** once, skip next sc, V-st in marked ch-2 sp, move st marker to ch-1 of V-st just made, ch 1, skip next sc, V-st in next sc, ch 1, skip next ch-2 sp and sc,^ sc in next ch-1 sp] 4 times, In 4th repeat of [ to ] end at ^, slip st to first sc of Rnd. [16 sc, 40 ch-1 sp, 24 V-st]

Rnd 11 (WS): Turn, ch 1, [*sc in next ch-1 sp, sc in next st*, Repeat from * to * 2 times, (sc, ch 2, sc) in marked ch-1 sp, move st marker to ch-2 sp just made, sc in next st, (Repeat from * to * 2 times, sc in next ch-1 sp, skip next sc,) 4 times] 4 times, slip st to first sc of Rnd. Fasten off. [116 sc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 12 (RS): Change to Color B. With RS facing attach new color with a standing dc in any sc along the middle of a side, [dc each st until reach ch-2 corner, (dc, ch 2, dc) in ch-2 corner sp] 4 times, dc each st until reach beginning of Rnd, slip st to top of first dc. Fasten off. [124 dc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnds 13 (WS): Change to Color C. With WS facing attach new color with a standing dc in any sc along the middle of a side, [dc each st until reach ch-2 corner, (dc, ch 2, dc) in ch-2 corner sp] 4 times, dc each st until reach beginning of Rnd, slip st to top of first dc. Fasten off. [132 dc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 14 (RS): Change to Color D. With RS facing attach new color with a standing dc in any sc along the middle of a side, [dc each st until reach ch-2 corner, (dc, ch 2, dc) in ch-2 corner sp] 4 times, dc each st until reach beginning of Rnd, slip st to top of first dc. Fasten off. [140 dc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Finishing

Weave in tails and block.

If you don’t want to make an entire afghan using this block pattern you can hop on over to check out the 2018 Moogly Afghan CAL and find some more block patterns to try out.